Not sure what’s going on. I have two identical LG C9 TVs. One is standalone and just users internal speakers, the other is connected via ARC to an Onkyo TX-NR575 and 5.1 speaker setup. Both TVs have the Plex app installed.
The ARC-configured TV has worked with Plex previously but tonight would not play sound for Die Hard (DTS-HD). Note the I’ve noticed some sound formats would not feed the back speakers but would feed the left/center/right (apparently ARC does not support high-bandwidth surround audio formats, such as Dolby TrueHD/Atmos and DTS-HD Master Audio so I figured that could be a factor). Note however that Die Hard was completly silent. I figured the ARC setup was jacked up and spent time trying to fix it with no success. I couldn’t get it to work so I gave up and went to the other TV (no AVR in the loop).
Well, it wouldn’t play any sound for Die Hard either. It did play a Disney movie with DTS however.
When I started populating my Plex Library I ran all content from a Roku Plex App though the Onkyo, both of which supported all sound formats. Therefore I made sure to use the highest possible quality sound format with my library content. I’ve since moved and upgraded my TVs…the availability of the Plex app allowed me to leave my Roku player in the box…or so I thought. I’m wondering now if ARC and TV limitations will force me to dig the Roku back out again.
More data… I was able to get Guardians of the Galaxy (DTS-HD MA 7.1) ) to play sound on my ARC-connected TV (front three speakers only however) but Die Hard (DTS-HD MA 5.1) still will not. I was thinking that the sound tracked was jacked up but it plays fine on my computer. I’m looking for another copy of the movie…maybe it is corrupted somehow.
That said, any clue how to get the back speakers working? I found some content (forgotten now) that did work (and the cable works as well) so I know they are connected properly.
More data…I found a copy that was encoded as “AC3 5.1” and not only did it play, but it played all 6 speakers.
I honestly have no idea what’s going on. I really don’t want to have to downgrade the audio of all my continent just to get the back speakers to work. I think Roku may have to be the answer again (rats…I really like the simplicity of the app/ARC)
Correct. ARC does not support multi-channel lossless audio. It does not have enough bandwidth. ARC will pass AC3, EAC3, dts, and PCM 2.0. It will not pass TrueHD, dts-HD, dts:X, or PCM with more than 2 channels.
Also, the TV does not support TrueHD audio.
If you play TrueHD audio with the Plex app, PMS will transcode the audio.
AC3 5.1 will direct play and will be passed to your attached receiver via ARC.
dts & dts-HD MA direct play. However, the app discards the “-HD MA” part and passes dts 5.1 to your receiver.
Thanks for that info. Clarifies what I found online. Two questions…
What is PMS (“PMS will transcode the audio”
You say “dts & dts-HD MA direct play. However, the app discards the “-HD MA” part and passes dts 5.1 to your receiver.” yet I’m not getting the surround channels to produce anything. Ideas as to why?
Therefore, when you play a movie with a TrueHD audio soundtrack, Plex transcodes the audio to a supported format. Most likely AAC 5.1 (I don’t remember off the top of my head). This audio can then either be played by the TV speakers or passed via HDMI-ARC to an attached soundbar, receiver, etc.
To see this, play a movie with TrueHD audio, then pull up the Dashboard in the web client.
Both the TV and the receiver must support eARC or the connection falls back to ARC.
Also, eARC seems to only work for external devices attached to the TV via HDMI (i.e. Shield, Roku, Blu-ray player, etc). I’ve yet to see any report of SmartTV apps (any, not just Plex) passing lossless audio to a receiver via eARC.
Additional thought on this: Check the sound field / listening mode on your Onkyo receiver. When testing, set it to Direct mode so the receiver does not alter the audio signal. You should also see information about the audio signal on the Onkyo front panel.
I realize that my Onkyo does not support eARC. That said, If I were to upgrade to an AVR that did, would that then allow the newer sound formats to work? All channels (speakers)?
I realize that putting my Roku back into play sounds easier/cheaper than upgrading my AVR, but space, connections, remotes (all stories too long to tell here) make me want to avoid that option if possible.
I believe what your saying is true, AVS forums are full of discussions on different TV manufacturers eARC.
Maybe, some Brand Soundbars will provide some bridge. As for AV Receivers and TV with eARC talking with Network app is still an unknown. At this point a 2019 Pro Shield is still best solution possible coupled with a supporting AV Receiver and speaker setup.
Been playing with this some more. TrueHD will play all channels but per the AVR it appears as though it’s being downconverted (As discussed above…checks).
However, all DTS tracks (DTS 5.1, DTS-HD) refuse to populate the back channels. The AVR is reporting 5 channel source however.
I’m really pulling my hair out over this. Shouldn’t be this hard.
Downloading…but how do I play this through plex?
—disregard, I see that it’s an mkv file. I assume I can just drop it in my movies folder and then I can play it like any other movie.
Nope, everything came out of the L/C/R speakers only, even when it was supposed to be a rear.
During the single speaker tests, the center played along with the right and left tests. Seemed odd, especially with the phasing test that happened later.
